AD0628071

Title:

ELECTROCHEMISTRY OF FUEL CELL ELECTRODES

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. 1 Apr 1962-15 Oct 1965

Corporate Author:

TYCO LABS INC WALTHAM MA

Personal Author(s):

Report Date:

1965-10-15

Pagination or Media Count:

118.0

Abstract:

The report is an extended abstract of the main results on a program which dealt with electrochemistry of fuel cell reactions, and included studies on the hydrogen reaction, the oxidation of organic fuels, and oxygen reduction. The clarification of the role of the electrode in catalyzing fuel cell reactions was the central theme of this work. In order to establish the relation of electrocatalytic activity to electrode composition it is necessary first to understand in detail the mechanism of the reaction of interest. The simplest reaction studied was the hydrogen reaction, and in this case, it was possible to show that electrocatalytic activity is dependent on the electronic structure rather than the surface composition of the electrode. The oxidation of organic fuels and oxygen reduction are more complicated reactions and the work with these reactions was directed primarily towards elucidating their kinetics and mechanisms. A summary of the main experimental results, of the conclusions reached, and of the implications of these studies in the development of fuel cells is given in Section II of this report. Detailed abstracts of the work done under this contract, and published in various journals, are given in Section III.